Political experts discussed the meaning and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a panel discussion and question and answer session last night in Schwab Auditorium.

Cheryl Achterberg, dean of Schreyer Honors College, told the more than 300 people in attendance that such a discussion is needed on campus.

"Our aim here is to honor the dead by focusing on life," she said.

Terrorism has affected everyone, said Erik Peterson, senior vice president and director of studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Peterson cited a recent survey in which 60 percent of Americans said their lives had permanently changed since Sept. 11.

"A year later . . . we should continue to be concerned," Peterson said.

He said evidence is growing that al-Qaida is regrouping, efforts to cut off financial sources have been difficult and last week's attempted assassination of Afghan President Hamid Karzai "underscored the fragility" of the government there.

"I cannot say that the campaign on global terrorism is progressing smoothly," Peterson said.

D. Scott Bennett, Penn State associate professor of political science, said there are 400 terrorist incidents in the world each year.

"Terrorism itself is not new," Bennett said.

He said World War I basically occurred because of terrorism -- the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Ferdinand.

"We have been relatively safe from threats since the end of World War II," Bennett said. "What Sept. 11 did was wake people up."

Bennett also said that another attack is inevitable. Even if we are 99.9 percent sure another terrorist attack will not occur, he said, there is still a 1 in 1,000 chance a terrorist attack will occur. And if the terrorists try 1,000 times, one attack will succeed, Bennett said.

Bennett also said that terrorists do not simply appear, they have grievances.

"Dealing with the root causes of terrorism is something we need to be focusing on," Bennett said.

Syedur Rahman, coordinator of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program at Penn State, echoed Bennett's advice on understanding underlying causes of terrorism.

If both sides do not take the time to understand and learn from each other, Rahman said, "things that happened will happen again."

Robert Richards, Penn State professor of journalism and law, warned against removing freedoms for the sake of homeland security.

He said the USA Patriot Act, signed into law on Oct. 26 without public hearings, bordered on infringement of civil liberties. The act allowed the government to use enhanced wiretap abilities and greater authority to make detainments.

Since then, he said, some journalists have been fired for speaking out against the war on terrorism. He also said that the government questioned a girl at a U.S. university because there was suspicion of anti-war materials in her apartment. The alleged anti-war material was a poster on her wall protesting the Texas death penalty.

During the question and answer session, one student asked how global understanding can be promoted.

Rahman said the answer lies in feeding the hungry across the world.

"Start with the basics," he said. "If you are hungry, you cannot be educated."

Rahman said that 2 billion people are living in abject poverty, many surviving on just a small piece of graham cracker each day.

"There are blatant wrongs in this world," he said. "America can do a whole lot."

Many students said they thought the discussion was beneficial.

"It was a wide range of questions that they answered," Bill Coyle (freshman-chemical engineering) said.

Angelina Michetti (junior-management and international business) said the discussion offered different perspectives that broadened students' views of the world.

"This event brought a different light to 9/11 through the eyes of educated and experienced professors," she said.